Made of Steel
by ryu crisis
Summary: He stared at the shaking, petrified girl in the corner of the interrogation room. It made him realize how hard it could be to remain totally detached. He wasn't made of steel after all... Rated T for content Warning: Contains violence and mentions of rape


Disclaimer: Cries I own nothing! T-T

A/N: This is just something I had sitting on my computer for a while and decided to fix up and post it!

Enjoy!

Made of Steel

Elliot Stabler sighed sadly, He and Olivia just got back from the apartment of a young girl who just saw her father get shot and killed in front of her. Luckily when they got there, the man who shot the girl's father was still there and they took him into custody.

After finding out the girl had been sexually abused, the case had officially been passed over to them.

Fin, Munch and Olivia went to deal with the suspect as to not give Elliot any reason to lose his temper while he went to question the victim.

Currently, he was walking down one of the many hallways of the 16th precinct until he hit interrogation room and he entered it carefully as to not scare the occupant in side.

There was nothing he could do to steel himself for the sight he was about to see

In the very corner of the room, sat a young girl that looked to be no older then 17 and she looked scared out of her mind. Taking in her appearance, the first thing he took notice of was her clothing, she was wearing a tattered tank top with a blue butterfly on it, a pair of very dirty black baggy pants and a pair of black converse all stars. Looking at her face, he noticed that she had long wavy brown hair and had one blue eye and one silver-grey eye.

It was the look in her mismatched eyes that haunted Elliot the most

It was the look of helplessness and terror

He knew she desperately needed help and he was going to give it to her

Approaching the table quietly, Elliot pulled out a chair carefully and sat across from the shaken girl. Getting a better look at her, he noticed the many scars that marred her arms and he knew that those were probably just the beginning.

Just the thought of that made his blood boil

He noticed that she was positively petrified of him and he let out a long, hard sigh. He wondered if the fact that he was indeed male was going to hinder the investigation rather then help it.

He sucked in a breath and readied himself for the arduous task ahead of him

"Hi, I'm detective Elliot Stabler, what's you're name?" Elliot asked softly

Looking at him with leery eyes, the girl shook her head and tried to back away further.

'_This is going well_' He mused

Getting up from the chair he was occupying, Elliot walked over to the frightened girl and bent down to her level.

"Honey, I know you're probably scared out of you're mind right now and I understand that, but in order for us to help you, you have to help us first, alright?" Elliot explained

The girl hung her head in shame

"Abigail" She said barely above a whisper

"Huh?" Elliot asked not quite hearing her

"My name is Abigail Warner" She repeated a little louder

Elliot smiled

"That's a beautiful name. Abigail, do you think you can tell me what happened?" Elliot prodded

Abigail's mismatched eyes widened in terror and she shook her head violently

"Please don't make me" Abigail pleaded

Elliot suppressed a groan and ran a hand over his face

'_Take one step forwards and two steps backwards_' He thought dryly

"Sweetheart, I know this is very hard for you but remember what I explained to you before. The only way we can help you is if you help us first" Elliot coaxed

Abigail sighed shakily

"Alright, fine" She said quietly

Elliot smiled again

"Good girl" He said reassuringly

Walking back over to he was originally seated, Elliot sat back down across from Abigail and motioned for her to begin talking.

Abigail shut her mismatched eyes tightly and re-opened them

"The man who killed my father, his name is Dmitri Walker and he is completely obsessed with me. He wanted me but my father told him that I was too much of a good resource and refused to give me up. Getting angry, Dmitri shot my father and tried to take me away but I refused. I screamed really loudly and I guess somebody called 911 because the next thing I know, I hear sirens and you guys are breaking down the door" Abigail explained

Elliot sighed and nodded

He already didn't like where this was headed

"Why is Dmitri obsessed with you, Abigail?" Elliot asked, almost dreading the answer

"I dunno, he started out like a client like all the others but for some reason he changed. He started trying to follow me when I was with other clients and when he did see me with other clients, he would cuss them out and try to take me away. It was almost like he s-started s-s-stalking m-me or s-something" Abigail said, stuttering the last part

'_That's exactly what he was doing_' Elliot thought disdainfully

Even though Elliot knew exactly what Abigail meant when she said the word 'client', he asked her anyway.

"What kind of Client?" Elliot asked

Abigail sighed

'_I guess I should start from the beginning_' Abigail thought sadly

"Just before I turned twelve, my mother got really, really sick with Leukemia and we were so dirt poor that we couldn't afford the treatment she needed" Abigail started

"We?" Elliot asked interrupting her

"Yeah, me, my dad and my two brothers" Abigail explained

Elliot nodded and motioned for her to continue

"Anyway, when not long after I turned 12, my mother passed away from her illness and since my brothers were old enough, they moved out on their own leaving me with my father. Days later, my father told me that we needed money to pay the rent and I was going to get it. He took me out and bought me some new clothes and after we were done shopping, he made me change into them and he drove me to a street corner. He told me wait on the corner of the street and a man would pick me up and then he told me that no matter what the man wanted me to do, I had to do it. He said that if I was a good girl and I did what I was told, I would get money to pay our rent so I did it" Abigail continued to explain

Elliot's normally bright blue eyes darkened in anger and he suppressed a growl as he continued to listen to Abigail

Abigail tried as hard as she could to suppress the tears that were forming behind her mismatched eyes

"After the man was done with me and had paid me, he kicked me out of his car and left on the side of the street. Walking home, everything started to sink in and I wondered what kind of father would make their daughter do that when they were perfectly fine to get a job. When I got home, I locked myself in the bathroom and cried. I was bleeding all over the place and I felt so dirty. Later on, my father came to the door asking for the money and he didn't even ask if I was okay or anything. What kind of father does that to their twelve year old child?" Abigail asked, almost yelling

Elliot swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat as Abigail continued

"For three years, I did that day in and day out until I turned 15 and I found out I was pregnant. I got pregnant and I didn't even have the slightest idea who the father was, nice eh? Anyway, I told my father and he freaked out on me. He forced me to go to the clinic and get an abortion. He told me that I wasn't any good to him pregnant so I had to get rid of it" Abigail whimpered

Abigail gave up the losing battle with her tears and let them fall freely

Elliot wanted so badly to go over to Abigail and comfort her

But knew he couldn't risk getting attached to her

So he grounded himself to his chair and refused to move

"Anyway, a month later, my father introduced me to Dmitri and told me that he was a special client that would pay extra for house calls and stuff like that. I-I mean what was I supposed to do? I couldn't say no so I just accepted and did what he wanted me to do. It went on like that for two years until Dmitri turned into a monster" Abigail finished

'_A monster is right_' Elliot thought angrily

"Honey, why couldn't you just say no?" Elliot asked softly

"B-Because if I did, my father would either kick me out or worse probably kill me" Abigail admitted

Elliot ran a hand over his face and sighed

"Oh, god" He muttered under his breath

'_This girl should be in school and worrying about school assignments and not weather or not her father will make her work the curb today_' Elliot thought sadly

Realizing what he was thinking, Elliot decided to ask her if she was even in school at the moment.

"Abigail, throughout this whole ordeal did you get to go to school?" Elliot asked trying to hide the anger and malice form his voice

Surprisingly, Abigail nodded

"I guess my father wanted it to appear that I had a normal life, so he let me go to school but he made me swear not to tell a soul about my other life" Abigail explained

Though Elliot grimaced when Abigail said 'other life', he was happy to know that she at least got to go to school on a regular basis.

"Good" He said with relief

Abigail was shocked to hear the relief in Elliot's voice

'_Does he really care about me?_' Abigail wondered silently to herself

Elliot frowned when he realized something didn't add up

"Hey Abigail, why didn't you ever tell your brothers what was going on?" Elliot asked, almost dreading the answer

Abigail let her head hang in shame

"I-I couldn't" Abigail confessed

"Why?" Elliot asked softly

"Because if I did, my father said he would hunt them down like the dogs they were" Abigail said repeating the exact words that her father had said

"Hunt them down like the dogs they were?" Elliot repeated in shock

"Yeah, my dad got really pissed that them when they left because in his mind he thought that they dumped me on him" Abigail explained

Elliot let out a mixture of a growl and a hiss in anger and frustration

'_This just keeps on getting better and better_' He thought miserably

Elliot sighed

He knew this next question was going to be hard for Abigail

"Abigail, Dmitri might have to go to trial, if he does would you testify?" Elliot asked cautiously

Abigail's mismatched eyes widened to the size of dinner plates

"Please don't make me do that, there's got to be another way" Abigail said desperately

Elliot groaned

For some reason, he had a feeling that was going to happen

"Why won't you testify, Abigail?" Elliot asked

"I-I don't think I can handle being anywhere near that bastard anytime soon" Abigail said truthfully

Elliot didn't want to force Abigail into anything so he opted for plan B

'_Fuck, I'm already in too deep_' He mused

"Abigail, there is another way. We could always bury him in evidence" Elliot explained

Abigail thought for a moment

"Will the sexual assault kit and the photos they took at the hospital before I got here be good enough for that?" Abigail asked with a glimmer of hope in her voice

Somehow, Abigail already knew the answer to her question

Elliot shook his head

"Sorry Abigail, we need every piece of evidence we can get our hands on" He explained gently

Abigail sighed

"Alright, go ahead and search my car and my apartment. I'm sure you'll find something somewhere" Abigail said giving in

Reaching into her pocket, Abigail pulled out a set of keys and handed them to Elliot.

"The first one is for the apartment and the other one is for my car" She explained

Elliot couldn't help but smile

"Thank you so much, Abigail" He said sincerely

Abigail just let her head hang and shrugged her shoulders in response

Immediately, Elliot noticed that something wasn't right with Abigail

"Abigail honey, what's wrong?" Elliot asked in concern

"Mr. Stabler, is it wrong not to be sad that my dad got shot?" Abigail asked shakily

"No Abigail, it's not. You have the right to feel however you want to about this and don't let anybody tell you differently, alright?" Elliot explained

Abigail nodded

"Mr. Stabler, please don't tell anybody about me being forced to be a prostitute" Abigail begged

Elliot sighed tiredly

"I can't promise you anything Abigail, but I can try" Elliot explained gently

Abigail accepted the answer

"Okay" Abigail said quietly

Abigail let her head hang again

"I-I jus-just want m-my life to be nor-normal again, like before my m-mother died" Abigail slurred though tears that were beginning to form

Suddenly, the weight of everything that had happened to Abigail came crashing down on her and she began to sob uncontrollably.

Elliot's heart clenched painfully as he watched Abigail sob brokenly in front of him

'_Screw it_' He thought quickly

Getting up form his seat, Elliot made his way over to Abigail's sobbing form and embraced her tightly. Abigail's smaller fists clenched onto his shirt and she began to sob harder.

Elliot sighed

He knew he really shouldn't have done this but the poor girl need some comfort and there was no way in hell he could just sit there and watch her cry

A good twenty minutes later, Abigail's smaller body began to sag against is own and he realized that she had fallen asleep.

Elliot's handsome features contorted and he groaned

'_Shit! Now what am I supposed to do?_' He thought frantically

Thinking for a moment, Elliot decided that she would have to stay in the cribs until she woke up because she wasn't allowed in her apartment yet.

Picking Abigail up gently, Elliot realized just how much Abigail was under weight and mal-nourished.

Elliot let out an angry hiss

"Oh gods…" Elliot mumbled

Walking up to the door, Elliot balanced Abigail with one arm and opened the door with other hand. Shutting the door behind him, Elliot walked down the hallway and started making his way to the cribs but bumped into Olivia, Munch and Fin halfway there.

They gawked on in shock at the sight before them

"What the hell happened, Elliot?" Olivia asked in shock

Elliot gave Olivia a withering stare

"She fell asleep, obviously" Elliot said dryly

"We noticed that, where do you plan on putting her?" John asked curiously

"Where do you think? The cribs" Elliot responded

"Well, you best clear that with the boss man first" Fin commented

"Clear what with me?" A voice asked behind the four of them

The four of them turned around

Cragen looked at his detectives suspiciously

John, Fin and Olivia were blocking his view of Elliot and he wondered why

"Everybody, out of the way" Cragen said waving his hand

Complying, everybody cleared out of the way and what Cragen saw almost made his eyes pop out of his skull.

"What the hell happened, Elliot?" Cragen asked voicing Olivia's early question

Elliot groaned

"Just what I told Olivia, she fell asleep. Nothing happened I swear" Elliot said dryly

Cragen gave Elliot a withering stare

"Alright, she can stay in the cribs. BUT only because she has no where else to go at the moment" Cragen stated

"Thanks, cap" Elliot said sincerely

"You welcome, just don't ask me for anymore favors for a long time" Cragen said waving it off

Pinching the bridge of his nose and mumbling something incomprehensible, Cragen turned around and left the way he came.

"Well that went well" John commented

"Yeah" Was all Elliot said

Turning around, Elliot continued down the hallway and the three remaining detectives continued to gawk on in shock at his behavior as of late.

Finally reaching the cribs, Elliot entered the room and re-positioned Abigail in his arms so he could turn on the light switch. Walking over to his bunk, Elliot held Abigail with one arm while he pulled down the sheets with the other and placed her gently on the cot.

Pulling up the covers, he looked her and sighed

Even in her sleep, she still looked so small and broken

Unable to stop himself, he pushed some offending strands of hair out of her face

Realizing what he just did, he pulled his hand back like he had just been burned and left the cribs as quickly as possible.

"What in the hell is wrong with me? She's just another victim" Elliot hissed to himself

No matter how many times he told himself that, he knew it wasn't true

Somehow she had wormed her way into his heart

Shaking his head to try and purge his current thoughts, Elliot continued to walk back the way he came until he reached the main office hoping that Olivia would be at her desk.

He was in luck; Olivia was sitting at her desk with her brow furrowed in concentration looking over some papers. Walking up to his desk, Elliot picked up an un-important piece of paper and crumpled it.

Elliot threw it at Olivia and hit her directly in the head

Olivia jumped

"Hey! What in the hell was that for?" Olivia asked indignantly

Elliot ignored her question

"Come on, let's go" Elliot said tiredly

"Go where?" Olivia questioned

"Abigail's apartment, she gave us permission to search it and her car" Elliot explained

Olivia nodded

Getting up from her desk, Olivia grabbed her jacket and put it on.

After putting his jacket on, Elliot lead Olivia to the elevator and they both entered it.

Elliot pushed the DOWN button and entire elevator ride was silent

Getting out of the elevator, both he and Olivia left the precinct.

Walking in the parking towards Elliot's car, Olivia really started to notice the drastic change in her partner's mood and demeanor because he barely said two words to her since he threw that paper at her head.

It was really starting to bug the hell out of her but she decided to wait until they got inside the car before she said anything.

Arriving at Elliot's car, they both climbed in and Olivia looked straight at Elliot with a no-nonsense look on her face.

"Alright, come clean. Who peed in your corn flakes?" Olivia asked seriously

Elliot couldn't help but let a tiny smile slip, Olivia knew him too well

"This whole thing just pisses me off, Olivia. That poor girl just went through hell and it took her father getting shot to death for somebody to finally notice" Elliot explained

Nodding, Olivia didn't say anything more at the moment even though she knew that there was something else going on.

Starting the car, Elliot put it in drive and pulled out of the parking lot effortlessly.

The whole drive to Abigail's apartment was silent and Elliot was thankful for that because it gave him a bit of a chance to sort his thoughts out.

Stopping the car in front of Abigail's apartment, Elliot put the car in park and looked at Olivia.

"So did you want the apartment or the car?" Elliot asked

"How about I take the apartment and you take the car. When you're done, just come and meet me in the apartment" Olivia suggested

Elliot nodded

Elliot took the set of keys out of his pocket that Abigail had given him earlier and handed one of them to Olivia.

"Thanks" Olivia said with a smile

Elliot smiled back

Getting out of the car, Olivia walked up to the entrance of Abigail's apartment and entered it with two uniforms and a CSI.

Satisfied that Olivia was safe, Elliot got out of his car and made his way over to Abigail's extremely beat up sky blue '69 Mustang convertible. Unlocking the door, Elliot slipped into the driver's side seat and slid the seat back a little so he could snoop comfortably.

Pulling out a pair of latex gloves from his coat pocket, Elliot snapped them on and began to snoop around.

Elliot opened the glove compartment and was surprised to come a cross an envelope

Turning it around, he read the back and was surprised at what it said

"To: Anybody" He read out loud to himself

'_To: Anybody? What in hell does she mean by that?_' Elliot thought in confusion

Opening the envelope, Elliot pulled out the piece of paper that was inside and began to read it.

Elliot's confusion slowly morphed into complete shock

_Dear whoever found this letter,_

_If you are reading this letter then that means that I am about to kill myself or probably already dead. Don't worry about it though, I'm probably a lot happier and better off that way anyways. However, I do have one request to whoever finds my body which is in apartment 42c on the first floor, please turn it into the to the police along with a shoe box with a purple and blue flower on it. You should find said shoe box under my bed, it has everything a good cop could need to convict the people who made me do this and should be turned into the police immediately. Also, for one final act of kindness, I would like you to inform my two brothers Julian and Aaron about my death and please tell them that I am happy now and no longer suffering._

_Julian and Aaron's phone number is 555-0451_

_Thank you and goodbye,_

_Abby_

Finishing the letter, Elliot slumped in his seat and tried in vain to swallow the massive lump that had formed in his throat.

'_Oh god…if we hadn't found her when we did, I...we could have lost her_' Elliot thought frantically

Elliot put the letter back into the envelope and shoved it into his coat pocket

Regaining as much of his composure as possible, Elliot got out the front seat of Abigail's car and moved to the backseat. Snooping around for several minutes, Elliot came up empty and began to get frustrated until he realized that he forgot to check under the seat.

Sticking his hand under the seat, Elliot began to feel around until his hand came into contact with something slightly squishy.

Pulling the object out form under the seat, Elliot's handsome features twisted into a grimace.

He groaned

'_A used condom, how lovely_' Elliot thought in disgust

Getting out of the car, Elliot handed the used condom to a CSI that had followed him and Olivia to the apartment block and she wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Bag and tag this" He said simply

The CSI nodded

"Will do, sir" She responded

Elliot snapped off his latex gloves and threw them in a near by garbage can

Leaving the CSI to her own devices, Elliot walked up to the entrance of the apartment block and entered it. Passing the front desk, Elliot walked down the hallway until he hit apartment 42c and let himself inside.

Ignoring the complete disarray of Abigail's apartment, Elliot walked down the hallway and entered her bedroom without a second thought.

Walking up to the bed, Elliot snapped on a fresh pair of gloves

Bending down, Elliot stuck his head under the bed and began to sift through Abigail's things. Minutes later, Elliot came up victorious and pulled the shoe box out from under the bed.

Picking up the shoe box, Elliot stood up and sat on the bed with it.

Elliot sighed deeply

'_This is the moment of truth_' Elliot thought sadly

Somehow, he knew whatever he was going to find in that box was going to test him to the extreme.

Opening the box, Elliot began to sift through the contents of the box and was appalled and disgusted by what he found.

There were various used condoms all bagged and bunch of pictures of Abigail in various poses and positions.

In every single shot, she was either nude or almost nude

'_Dmitri must have taken those when he was…ugh…doing things to her. She must have found them and stolen them_' Elliot thought in disgust

As much as Elliot was proud of Abigail for stealing the pictures, he could help feeling completely sick to his stomach.

Having had all he could take, Elliot slammed the lid back on the box

Picking up the box, Elliot got up off the bed and went to go and find Olivia.

Minutes later, Elliot found Olivia crouched down on the bathroom floor evidently looking for any evidence she could find.

Elliot shook her shoulder more roughly then he meant to

"Come on, let's go" Elliot said gruffly

Getting off the floor, Olivia looked at Elliot with complete confusion until she saw the un-mistakable anger and fury dancing in his blue eyes.

She knew then that he found something and it must have been horrible

"What did you find?" She asked knowingly

Elliot shoved the box at Olivia

"Elliot, what is this?" Olivia asked in confusion

"Just open it and find out" Elliot responded darkly

Doing what Elliot told her, Olivia opened the box and sifted through some of its contents.

Finding the pictures, Olivia looked through them and massive waves of nausea rushed through her body.

"Oh god" She mumbled

Closing the box, she handed it back to Elliot

Elliot then handed it to the CSI who had been helping Olivia

"I want you to bag, tag and catalog every single piece of evidence you find in this box and I want you to it now" Elliot said half growling the last part

The CSI jumped and left immediately to do what he was told

Olivia was shocked at Elliot's out burst and she knew it was time for him to leave this place

"Come on Elliot, Let's go" She said softly

Looking at Olivia's expression, Elliot softened immediately

Elliot was about comply when he realized that Abigail would need a change of clothes when she woke up

He sighed

Again he would be breaking the rules

"Hang on, we can't go just yet" Elliot responded

"Huh, why?" Olivia asked

"Because Abigail needs a change of clothes for when she wakes up" Elliot explained

Not waiting for a response from Olivia, Elliot disappeared back down the hallway from which he came.

Olivia stared at her partner's back in shock

She finally knew what was eating at him so badly

Somewhere along the way, he had gotten emotionally involved with the victim

"Oh El, what happened?" Olivia whispered into the air

Shaking herself out of the reverie she was in, Olivia followed Elliot down the hallway back into Abigail's room.

Entering Abigail's room, Olivia noticed there was a duffle bag sitting on the edge of the bed. Looking inside the duffle bag, she noted that Elliot had already put a shirt and a pair of pants inside it.

Turning her head slightly, she noticed Elliot standing next to the dresser with a distraught look on his face.

Walking up to Elliot, Olivia put her hand on his forearm

"Are you alright?" Olivia asked in concern

"With everything she already been through, I don't think I can bring myself to invade her privacy" Elliot explained

Olivia nodded in understanding

"That's alright, I'll get it" Olivia responded

Opening Abigail's dresser drawer, Olivia pulled out the first undergarments she found and dumped them into the duffle bag.

"Thanks" Elliot said sincerely

"Come on, let's go" Was all Olivia replied

Elliot nodded

Elliot picked the duffle bag up off the bed

Walking out of Abigail's room, both Elliot and Olivia walked back down the hallway and stopped at the bathroom to get toiletries for Abigail.

After getting what they thought she would need, they left the bathroom and walked out of the apartment with the uniforms that followed Olivia inside. After dismissing the uniforms, they made their way back to Elliot's car and he loaded the duffle bag into the trunk. Sliding into the driver's side seat, Elliot waited for Olivia to slide into to passenger side seat and he started the car.

Elliot pulled out of his parking spot with ease

The whole drive back to the 16th precinct was eerily silent

Entering the parking lot of the 16th precinct, Elliot pulled into the first parking space he saw and put the car in park. Turning the car off, he got out of it and went to unload the duffle bag from the trunk. After Olivia got out of the passenger side seat, Elliot locked the car and they both entered the 16th precinct.

Walking into the elevator, Olivia looked at Elliot with concern

Pushing the UP button, Olivia waited for the elevator doors to close and the elevator to move before she spoke.

"Where are you gonna put that?" Olivia asked gesturing to the duffle bag

"My locker" Elliot replied simply

"Alright" Olivia responded

Elliot nodded

The whole rest of the elevator ride up, an awkward silence hung in the air and as soon as the elevator doors opened Olivia took off in the direction of the main office.

Elliot sighed

'_Damn. She knows_' Elliot thought miserably

Deciding that he couldn't do anything about it now, Elliot made his way to the locker room and put the duffle bag in his locker.

Leaving the locker room, made his way back down the hallway and entered the main office. Noticing that Olivia was at her desk looking something over, curiosity got the better of him and he walked up to her desk to figure out what it was.

Elliot leant against Olivia's desk

"What are you looking at?" Elliot asked curiously

"The pictures form Abigail's SART examination" Olivia responded

"Let's see them" Elliot stated

Olivia sighed

She really didn't want Elliot to see the pictures because she knew they would just upset him further.

But she had no choice but to hand them over

"Here" She said simply

Elliot took the pictures from Olivia and thumbed through them

They showed the true extent of Abigail's torture

She had whip marks, cigarette burns and scars all over the place

Elliot felt his blood boil but kept his anger in check to the best of his abilities

'_I want to take Olivia's chair and smash that bastard's head in until all of his brains pour out of his head onto the concrete_' Elliot thought angrily

Taking the pictures from Elliot's grasp, Olivia set them on the desk and looked at Elliot straight into the eyes.

She was about to tell Elliot something when a loud scream reverberated from the cribs

Pushing himself off of Olivia's desk, Elliot flew down the hallway like shot out of hell and threw open the door to the cribs.

He was completely un-aware that Cragen, Fin, Munch and Olivia had followed him.

Walking up to Abigail, Elliot immediately embraced her tightly

"Abigail honey, what happened?" Elliot asked in concern

"Bad dream" Abigail whimpered into his shirt

Suddenly, the worst wave of nausea the Abigail ever felt washed over her and she pushed Elliot away. Stumbling to her feet, she got halfway to the door before she collapsed to the ground and her body betrayed her.

Running to Abigail's side, Elliot bent down behind her and held her long hair out of the way as she got sick all over the floor. When she finished, she looked up and noticed the four other people staring at her in shock.

Whimpering in embarrassment, she turned her face into Elliot's shoulder.

Cragen, John, Fin and Olivia started on at Elliot in shock

"Look, Cap I--" Elliot started

Cragen raised his hand and cut Elliot off

"It's alright, just help her get cleaned up, I'll get somebody to clean this up and we'll talk about the rest later" Cragen stated, waving it off

"Thanks again, cap" Elliot said sincerely

Cragen nodded

"Come on, everybody out" Cragen said gesturing to the door

"And everybody wonders why I'm bald" Cragen muttered as he left

Elliot suppressed a snort at Cragen's parting comment

Turning his attention to Abigail, Elliot noticed that she was positively drenched in sweat and shaking like a leaf.

"Are you alright?" Elliot asked in concern

Abigail nodded

"That happens sometimes if I have a really bad nightmare" Abigail explained, her voice hoarse

Elliot sighed

'_It's no wonder she's so mal-nourished and underweight_' Elliot thought sadly

"Come on, let's go and get you cleaned up" Elliot suggested

"Okay" Abigail said, putting up no fight whatsoever

Helping Abigail to her feet, Elliot guided her out of the cribs and to the locker room.

Sitting Abigail down on the bench in front of the lockers, he opened his locker and pulled out her duffle bag. Looking at the duffle bag, Abigail's tired, mismatched eyes widened in recognition.

"You brought me clothes from my apartment?" Abigail asked in shock

'_Well, nobody's ever been this nice to me before_' Abigail thought in wonder

Elliot nodded

"Thank you" Abigail said sincerely

"Your welcome" Elliot smiled

"Here, go and take a shower if you want" Elliot added

Elliot pulled out a towel from his locker and handed it to Abigail

Smiling a real smile for the first time in awhile, Abigail accepted the towel and picked up her duffle bag.

Abigail went to clean herself up and Elliot sat on the bench in front of his locker

Running a tired hand over his face, Elliot tried to sort everything out in his mind but no matter how he looked at it he always came up with the same conclusion.

'_I am so up shit creek without a paddle_' Elliot thought tiredly

A good twenty minutes later, Abigail came back into view looking completely refreshed and changed.

Elliot looked at her and smiled

'_She looks like a new person_' He mused

Dumping the duffle bag onto the floor, Abigail took a seat next to Elliot on the bench and sighed.

"I feel much better now, it's amazing what a shower can do" Abigail commented

"Oh and here" Abigail added handing the towel back to Elliot

Elliot took the towel and put it back into his locker

Elliot turned to Abigail

"Hey kiddo, when's the last you ate?" Elliot asked

"Um, I can't remember" Abigail confessed

As if to prove her point, Abigail stomach growled loudly and she put her hand over it to try and silence it.

Abigail felt heat rise up to her cheeks

"Sorry" She mumbled

Elliot chuckled

"Alright, how about we go and get something to eat. After that, we can come back here and you can phone your brothers" Elliot suggested

Abigail's tired mismatched eyes lit up

"That would be awesome" Abigail agreed

"Oh, by the way, I'm really sorry if I got you in trouble for helping me out" Abigail added

Elliot looked at Abigail with a stern yet soft look in his blue eyes

"Abigail don't ever think that way, you are not by any means trouble in any way and I don't want you to worry about me" Elliot explained sternly yet softly

Abigail nodded

"Okay" She said quietly

"Come on, let's go" Elliot sighed

Getting up from his seat on the bench, Elliot helped Abigail up and waited until she grabbed her bag off of the floor. Together, they walked out of the locker room and walked back into the main office.

Ignoring the stares from the other detectives, Elliot guided Abigail to the exit and they were about to leave but Cragen came out of his office before they could leave.

Walking up to them, Cragen smiled at Abigail and gave Elliot a very stern look.

Knowing exactly what Cragen was going to say, Elliot stopped him before he could get a single word out.

"I know, I know, you don't have to worry. When we get back, I will phone Abigail's brothers to come and pick her up" Elliot explained

Cragen sighed

"You had better" Was that Cragen said

Elliot nodded

Turning back around, Cragen left the way he came and went back into his office

Walking into the elevator, Elliot pushed ground floor button and together both Abigail and Elliot waited for the elevator to hit ground floor.

After the elevator hit ground floor, Elliot and Abigail exited the elevator and then exited the precinct.

Guiding Abigail across the street, Elliot took her to a diner he and Olivia went to all the time and they entered it. Walking up to the first booth they came across, Abigail shoved her bag in one side of the booth and sat down and Elliot sat across from her on the other side.

Minutes later, a friendly looking waitress walked up them and smiled.

"May I take your order, please" She asked

"Yeah, I'll have a cheeseburger, fries and a coke" Elliot responded

The waitress looked at Abigail

"And you, miss?" She asked again

Abigail thought for a moment

"Same thing as him, I guess" Abigail shrugged

Nodding, the waitress scratched their orders down in her note pad and disappeared out of sight.

Sighing, Elliot looked straight at Abigail with an un-readable expression on his face.

"Abigail, we found the box with the purple and blue flower on it" Elliot said with a serious tone

Abigail hung her head and sighed

"It's alright, I thought you would. One day after Dmitri was ugh…done with me, I snooped around a little bit and found the pictures in the night stand next to his bed so I stole them. As for the condoms, I can't remember exactly who they all belong to but I thought they could help too" Abigail explained

Elliot said nothing

"I also found a letter in your glove compartment" Elliot added softly

Abigail hung her head in shame and refused to look at Elliot

"You know, before the fight even broke out, I was trying to leave because I forgot that in the glove compartment of my car" Abigail explained again

Abigail then let out a hollow laugh

"Jeez, I must really suck if I can't even commit suicide right" Abigail said humorlessly

Elliot didn't respond but instead looked at Abigail with a penetrating gaze

His gaze was burning holes in Abigail's skull and it was freaking her out

"What?" Abigail squeaked

"Please don't joke about that or think that ever again, alright? Promise me?" Elliot said seriously

Abigail couldn't find her voice

Since her mother had passed away, nobody has ever asked her anything as serious as that before.

"Promise me" Elliot asked again, his gaze never wavering

"Alright, I promise" Abigail finally responded

Elliot smiled

"Good girl" He said reassuringly

Seconds later, the waitress arrived with their food and they ate in silence.

Abigail had never tasted anything so good

After they had finished their meals, they both got up and Elliot left some bills on the table. After making sure that Abigail had her bag, Elliot led her out of the diner and back across the street. Entering the precinct, both Elliot and Abigail entered the elevator and Elliot pressed the UP button.

They rode the elevator in silence

After the elevator came to a complete stop, both Abigail and Elliot exited it and Elliot guided Abigail to his desk in the main office. Pulling up a chair across form his desk, he motioned for Abigail to have a seat and she complied. Pulling the envelope from hell out of his pocket, he pulled out the letter and read the phone number on it. Picking up the phone, he dialed the number and waited for somebody to pick up.

Two rings later, he was rewarded when somebody picked up

"**Hello?" Somebody asked tiredly**

"Hello, is Julian or Aaron there please?" Elliot asked politely

"**This is Julian speaking, who is this?" Julian asked in confusion**

"Hello Julian, this is Detective Elliot Stabler of the SVU unit and I am calling in regards to your sister, Abigail" Elliot explained

"**Holy shit! Is she alright?" Julian asked in shock**

"Yes and no, I have her here with me and I need you or Aaron to come down to the precinct and pick her up" Elliot explained again

"**What do you mean yes and no? What happened to her?" Julian asked panicking**

"Whenyou get here everything will be explained to you, alright?" Elliot assured

"**Alright, tell her to hang on and I'll be right there" Julian replied still in shock**

"Will do" Elliot responded

Julian then hung up and Elliot put the phone back on the cradle

Elliot smiled at Abigail

"Julian is on his way" Elliot said with a happy tone

Abigail smiled back

"Thank you so much Mr. Stabler" Abigail said sincerely

"Your welcome, Abigail" Elliot replied softly

Elliot knew what was coming, soon he would have to say goodbye and let her go.

A good ten minutes later, a man with short brown hair, bright sliver-grey eyes covered by wire framed glasses wearing a band tee shirt and a pair of slightly baggy kaki pants tore into the precinct. Noticing Abigail, he ran right over to her and hugged has tightly as he could without cutting off her air supply.

"Oh my god Abbs, are you alright?" Julian asked in concern

Abigail hugged him back tightly

"Yeah, I am now. Where's Aaron?" Abigail asked curiously

"Oh I don't know. I tried phoning the bastard but he had his phone turned off so I left him a message. He must be in a meeting of some sort" Julian explained

Julian let Abigail go and got a good look at her

He saw some of the scars on her arms

"Jeez sis, what happened to you?" Julian asked sadly

Julian felt a warm hand on his shoulder and he whirled around

"Hello I'm Detective Benson, come with me and I'll explain everything to you" Olivia said sticking her hand out for Julian to take

Julian shook her hand and nodded

Julian took one last look at Abigail before letting Olivia lead him away

Abigail slumped back into her chair

"Where the hell is Aaron?" She wondered glumly

Elliot noticed Abigail's glum expression and sighed

Walking around his desk, Elliot put a warm hand on Abigail's shoulder

"Don't worry Abigail, I'm sure he'll come once he gets Julian's message" Elliot said reassuringly

Abigail nodded

True to Elliot's word, another man burst into the precinct not long after and he looked more worn out then the first one. He also had short brown hair but had blue eyes instead of silver-grey eyes and he didn't wear glasses. He wore a blue dress shirt with a tie and a pair of black dress slacks.

Noticing Abigail, he also ran over and hugged her as tightly as he could.

"Oh god Abby, I tried to get out as fast as I could" Aaron explained, worry dripping form every word

"It's okay Aaron" Abigail replied softly

Letting Abigail go, Aaron got a good look at her and started to see red.

"What the hell happened, Abigail?" Aaron hissed angrily

"I-It's complicated" Abigail tried to explain

Elliot cleared his throat and Aaron looked at him

"Hello Aaron, my name is Detective Elliot Stabler, my partner is currently explaining everything to Julian. Come with me and I'll take you where they are" Elliot explained

Aaron nodded in understanding

"Alright, lead the way" Aaron sighed

Elliot turned to Abigail

"Do you think you can hang tight here by yourself for a few minutes?" Elliot asked

"Mr. Stabler, I'm 17 not 7" Abigail replied a little mock irritatingly

"Right, Aaron let's go" Elliot muttered

Trying his hardest to suppress a snort, Aaron followed Elliot down the hallway leaving Abigail by herself for a moment. Minutes later, Elliot returned sans Aaron and sat back down at his desk.

Elliot noticed that Abigail had slumped back into her chair again

"Hey Abigail, what's wrong?" Elliot asked in concern

Abigail groaned and put her head in her hands

"I just realized how much my brothers are going to freak out" She mumbled

Getting up from his chair, Elliot walked in front of Abigail and put a hand on each of her shoulders.

"Listen to me Abigail, they are your brothers and will love you no matter what. Sure, they will probably be shocked and angry when they find out but trust me when I say that the shock and anger will not be directed at you" Elliot explained

Abigail nodded

Just as Abigail predicted, both Aaron and Julian came tearing out of the interrogation room and down the hallway with Olivia on their tails.

"Alright Abby, where is he?" Aaron bellowed

"Yeah, why didn't you tell us sooner?" Julian hissed angrily

Abigail jumped and hung her head in shame

Olivia finally caught up to them

"You guys!" She shouted

They both whirled around to face her

"Look, I know you guys are upset but you have to listen. We already arrested him and he is in jail waiting be to put on trial. Don't worry about that either, your sister gave us enough evidence to lock his ass up until the next millennium" Olivia explained

After they heard this, both Aaron and Julian defused immediately

Aaron scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and Julian just started fidgeting with his glasses

"Sorry" They both said in unison

'_Yeah, you better be_' Elliot thought, irritated

"Anyway, we suggest the you take Abigail home so her life could begin to get back to normal as soon as possible and when the trial rolls around we will inform you of the outcome" Elliot finished

Both Julian and Aaron nodded

They both turned to Abigail

"Come on squirt, let's go and get the rest of your things and get home" Aaron suggested

"After that, we can go CD shopping or something if you like" Julian suggested again

"That sounds good" Abigail agreed

Turning to face Elliot, Abigail smiled a real, genuine smile and it made Elliot swallow thickly.

He knew it was time to let her go

They had set Abigail free from her hell on earth and now it was time to move on to the next victim who needed their help.

But for some reason, he was having problems letting go of Abigail

She had wormed her way into his heart and didn't even know it

Walking up to Elliot, Abigail wrapped her arms around his mid-section in a hug and he hugged her back tightly.

"Thank you so much" Abigail whispered

"Your welcome" Elliot whispered back

After breaking apart from the hug, Elliot handed Abigail the envelope with her letter in it and she took it.

She crumbled it up and threw it into the garbage bin next to Elliot's desk

Turning around, Abigail picked up her bag and walked over to her brothers.

Together, they began walking down the hallway and just as they got out of sight Abigail turned head and smiled one last time before disappearing completely.

Elliot sighed and Olivia rested a hand on his forearm in comfort

"You did you good El, real good" She whispered

Elliot smiled at her

"Thanks" He said sincerely

Suddenly, Cragen's office door swung open causing Elliot to snap to attention.

"Stabler. My office. Now." Cragen ordered

Slowly, Elliot made his way around his desk over to Cragen's office and entered it.

"Yeah, Cap?" Elliot asked already knowing what was going on

"Why don't you take a seat" Cragen suggested

Wordlessly, Elliot sat down

Cragen sighed

"Elliot, your one of my best detectives and I know you know this as well as I do but you still got emotionally evolved with a victim. Because of this, you broke an un-godly amount of rules and should be punished" Cragen explained

Elliot tried to protest in his defense but Cragen stopped him

"BUT seeing as you obviously saved her life, I think I can let you off the hook this time so go home and get some rest because god knows you need it" Cragen finished

Elliot's blue eyes widened in shock

"Thanks Cap, I--" Elliot couldn't finish expressing his gratitude because Cragen cut him off

"It's okay Elliot, just go home and get some rest" Cragen repeated

"Oh and tell Olivia to do the same" Cragen added

Nodding, Elliot left Cragen's office and headed back over to his desk where Olivia was still standing.

Elliot looked at Olivia with a tired expression written all over his face

"So what did he say?" Olivia asked curiously

"That we should both go home" Elliot responded

Olivia smiled and nodded

Somehow, he had a feeling that she was the reason he got off so easily

'_Oh well, another life saved, another day ended_' Elliot thought tiredly

Three Months Later

Pulling up in front of Abigail's new apartment block, Elliot put the car in park and turned off the car. Picking up the small package that lying on his front passenger seat, he put it in his pocket and made his way into the building and walked up to reception desk.

Ringing the bell, Elliot waited for the reception lady to turn around

Turning around, the reception lady smiled as she noticed Elliot

"Yes, how can I help you?" She asked kindly

"I would like to know what apartment Abigail Warner lives in" Elliot explained

The reception lady smiled warmly

"Abigail lives in 6A with one of her brothers; she's such a nice young girl" The reception lady replied kindly

Elliot couldn't help smiled back

"Thank you" Elliot replied sincerely

Walking down the hallway, Elliot made his way up to Abigail's apartment and knocked on the door.

Suddenly, Elliot heard a lot of loud footsteps, a thud and then a lot of cursing.

Minutes later, the door swung open to reveal a very different looking Abigail than he remembered

Her long brown hair was now sleek and shiny, her mismatched eyes were no longer dull and lifeless and she had filled out quite nicely.

Seeing Elliot, Abigail's mismatched eyes lit up and she smiled brightly.

"Hello Mr. Stabler, how are you?" Abigail asked curiously

Elliot smiled and chuckled

"Abigail, I think after everything that's happened you can call me Elliot" Elliot replied warmly

Blushing slightly, Abigail nodded

Realizing that she had yet to let Elliot into the apartment, and mentally kicked herself

"Elliot, would you like to come in?" Abigail asked curiously

Elliot nodded

"Sure, but just for a moment because I'm still on duty" Elliot informed

Nodding in understanding, Abigail move out of the threshold of the apartment and let Elliot in.

"So, I just came by to tell you that Dmitri's trial was today" Elliot explained

An apprehensive look formed on Abigail's face

"Really?" She replied softly

Elliot nodded again

"Really, but don't worry, Abigail. The trail went very well and we nailed him. He got life without the possibility of parole" Elliot continued

Hearing that, Abigail's mismatched eyes lit up

"Seriously?! I don't have to worry about him anymore?" Abigail asked in shock

"No Abigail, you don't. He's gone for life" Elliot replied, smiling warmly

"Oh, thank you so much" Abigail exclaimed happily

In her excitement, Abigail hugged Elliot tightly and she lingered a little longer than necessary.

Realizing what she was doing, she pulled away immediately and mentally berated herself.

'_What in the hell is the matter with you??!_' She thought to herself angrily

For a whole ten seconds, she found herself un-able to look Elliot in the face and an awkward silence passed.

During this silence, Elliot couldn't help chuckle to himself at Abigail's shy behavior until he realized something.

Rummaging though his pockets, he pulled out the small package he pocketed earlier

Forcing Abigail to look at him, he handed her the small package

Abigail stared at the small package that she now holding her hands in confusion and curiosity.

"What's this for?" She asked curiously

Elliot smiled at her question

"You did have a birthday two days ago, right?" Elliot teased

Abigail's mismatched eyes suddenly widened and she nodded

"Whoops I forgot. I guess I did" Abigail laughed

"But you didn't have to get me anything" Abigail added shyly and sincerely

Elliot waved Abigail off

"Don't worry about it" He replied gruffly

Looking at his watch, Elliot realized that he had to get going because everybody would start wondering where he went.

Elliot sighed and scratched the back of his head

"Look Abigail, I have to get going now or the other detectives will start to wonder what happened to me" Elliot explained

Abigail sighed and nodded in understanding

After giving Abigail one last goodbye/ birthday girl hug, Elliot turned and exited the apartment.

Sighing again, Abigail walked up to her dining room table and plopped down in the chair closest to her with the gift Elliot gave her in hand.

Gently tearing at the wrapping paper, Abigail opened the small box and was shocked to find a necklace inside.

Looking at the necklace closely, Abigail noticed that the charm hanging off it was in the form a tiny girl with wings.

Taking the necklace out of the box, Abigail fingered it gently

'_Wow, my very own guardian angel_' Abigail thought to herself

_I found the note down in your car_

_And you climbed up here to fall apart_

_Fall apart_

_Hold your head high_

_Don't look down_

_I'm by your side_

_Won't back down_

_You wanted a hero tonight_

_Well I'm not made of steel_

_I'm not made of steel_

_But your secrets safe with me…_


End file.
